So, this chapter is a bit short in comparison to usual, alongside only writing it a bit at a time, but... I have kept you all waiting for an update on this for long enough, I think. Besides, next chapter is going to have quite a bit happen, so stay tuned for that at some point!

"Mother… I bet that you would be happy that I still go to visit father frequently… He seems so lonely without you. I've never seen him so down before… I get that it has been four years since you left us, so it's no wonder…" The brown haired person sighed, looking down at Robin's memorial stone. "You're missing me – as in younger me – growing up too…" There was then a sudden laugh from him as he began to tear up, thinking about what he had seen when he had finally met his younger self for the first time. "Both he and father are finally getting along, after all of this time… They both miss you so much! Just come back already!" He then suddenly sank to his knees, crying more than he was just seconds previously. "Mother..."

"So… You didn't like mother when you first met? Haha, I can imagine what you were like, father!" The young Morgan began to laugh, before attempting to do his best interpretation of Frederick. "You are a bad lady so stay away from Chrom and Lissa!"

"Now, I wasn't like that, Morgan-"

A new voice was quick to cut off Frederick mid-sentence, laughing at Morgan's impression at the same time. "No, it was more like 'I wish to trust you but because you don't remember anything but yours and Chrom's name, I shall deem you unworthy of trust.' Or… At least something along those lines. It was nine years ago when we found her, after all... But hey, at least he began to trust her because she made him eat some bear meat." The voice belonged to Chrom, who at that time, happened to be walking past the father and son as they spoke together. "But you were rather close too, Morgan."

Morgan burst out laughing then, hearing Chrom's impersonation with the stupid voice that was put on alongside the idea of Frederick eating bear, before noticing that his father seemed almost… upset with the interpretations, as he was looking away with a furrowed brow and a frown. Carefully, the boy took hold of his hand, hoping that Frederick wasn't annoyed. The reassuring squeeze moments later brought a grin to the boy's face, and he almost clung to him in joy.

"You need to stop acting like your mother… You act more and more like her each day..."

And how it made him long for her even more.

"Anyway… Morgan, I need to have a word with your father for a moment. Do you reckon that you can keep yourself distracted whilst we speak? I promise, I won't take long."

The boy looked up, before putting on a small frown. "But father promised… He promised to spend time with me… Let me stay with father! I want to listen too!"

It took quite a few minutes for the two men to persuade Morgan to do something else for a short while, and it was the closest thing to deja vu which they had ever experienced. It was just like the argument which had happened over Robin's choice to continue fighting so soon after Morgan's birth when the Valmese threat had began to arise…

At least this argument didn't end up with stones and tomes being threw at people though.

As Morgan sat down with a 'hmph' nearby, looking outside at the plants starting to grow seeming as winter was quickly transitioning to spring, Chrom was finally capable to speak with Frederick without any curious ears listening in. "It's about where we first met Robin… Hearing Morgan speak about back then reminded me of what I was told yesterday…"

"Must we speak about-"

"Yes… Strange things have been happening down there. Specifically things which had happened once we met with her. Villagers which were injured by the brigands which showed up have been going to clerics – Maribelle more than anyone due to her locality – to complain that their wounds from nine years ago were reopening as if by magic. And on top of that… There have been people who live there speaking of strange dreams in which they see a woman with white hair crying for her home and her family… It can't be just a coincidence."

"It has to be. I… I have got my hopes up so many times before now that she could return, just for them to be dashed down. I'm not allowing that to happen again… For Morgan's sake, at the very least."

Unfortunately, after hearing his name being mentioned, the boy felt as though he had no other option but to listen in to what he knew was a private conversation.

"Well… Me and Lissa alongside… Well..." Chrom was then quick to make a gesture towards Morgan before indicating that he was talking about the older Morgan, "We are going to investigate what is going on, or at least visit the area tomorrow. I was hoping that you would be willing to come along, for the odd chance that it could be a sign of Robin's imminent return… But if you are insistent on not believing it..."

"I wish to believe it, milord. I am desperate for any hope to cling onto. But my son needs me. I promised to stay with him no matter what, and not to leave him alone."

"Well bring him with you! Surely he wouldn't want to be cooped up here for a long time, especially with it becoming warmer now. Me and Lissa are bringing Lucina and Owain, so maybe he could play with them for a while. Besides… You are looking as though you need to get outside the castle walls too, Frederick. I understand that you live here too, but… It doesn't mean that you should just stay here just to look after your son." Chrom then noticed from the corner of his eyes that Morgan was trying to listen in, and also that Frederick had a frown on his face alongside slightly widened eyes that made him look anxious. That wasn't an emotion which fit him at all. "At the very least you should have a day out tomorrow, if you aren't willing to come with us. Don't you think so, Morgan? Your father needs to get outside for a day?"

Without thinking about the fact that he shouldn't have been listening in on the first place, and wasn't meant to respond, he replied anyway. "Yeah!" And then he realised at the sight of Chrom's raised eyebrow. "Oh..."

"Wooden mother..." Morgan moved the small figure closer to another one upon a desk in a room which he was aware of being his mother's study for when she wanted to read or plan something out. It was a comfortable room for sure, with pale blue walls which were capable of reminding him of the comfort that he experienced in one of his very few remaining memories which he had of her. Other features included many blankets and pillows (he assumed that she fell asleep in there a lot from that), and bookcases filled to the brim with various different books, ranging from fictional novels, historical textbooks, and what he assumed were diaries. Frederick had let him read whatever books that he wanted, so long as the diaries were left untouched. He wondered why that was upon a daily basis, but he just assumed it would be something to do with the memories which they dug up for his father – be they bad or good.

It took him a few minutes to get the figures to where he wanted them positioned, before he put on a small smile. "There… Wooden mother is with wooden father… Now wooden father is happy… But… There's no wooden Morgan to be with mother and father… The one of older me went missing..."

From the doorway, his older self sighed as he held onto the missing figure which the boy was speaking about. Nobody knew what the consequences would be if the younger of them realised that he wasn't really who he said he was, so there was no option but to intervene. "He deserves to be with his mother and father… But this Morgan has to be on his own… He doesn't know where or when his parents are..." Upon whispering that, he clenched the hand holding the figure tightly, but not tight enough to break it.

Once he had finished dwelling on his thoughts, he began to hear a light sobbing coming from the room. Morgan didn't want to see the child upset, so he had to try and get him to calm down. "Hey there, Morgan… What's the matter?"

"H- Huh?… What are you doing here?..." The boy stood up, and pulled his mother's coat around him tightly.

"You're upset, I could hear you crying… What's the matter?" He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, before giving him a reassuring smile. "You can tell me, right? You're like a little brother to me, so I don't like seeing you upset..."

"You… You knew my mother before she disappeared, didn't you?..."

"Yes, I did-"

"Do… You think that she wanted to leave me and father behind?… Or… Or not?..."

That question made the older of the two clench his fist then, before shaking his head frantically. "No… She didn't want to go. She was scared of dying… E- Every night leading up to her disappearing… She would cry… Cry for you, cry for your father, cry for everyone… She didn't want to go… But she didn't have a choice… If she didn't go, well..." The memories of the time in which he and all of the other Shepherds got pulled into his friends' future somehow, and having to watch all of his friends die, with an alternate version of him being at the hands of many of their deaths, began to play through his mind. "If she didn't go… Almost nobody would be here right now… You wouldn't be here right now."

It was a relief for Morgan to know that his mother didn't want to leave him or Frederick alone, so it was enough for him to wipe away his tears and put on a faint smile. "That's good..." The boy's gaze then shifted towards the doorway, and his smile was quick to become a wide grin. "Father!"

Morgan was gazing around in curiosity at a field which he, his father, and a few other people were stood in, because of them explaining to him that this was the field which they had met his mother. "So… Where was she here? You said that you found her asleep… But there's no bed! Or chair! Or blankets, and you can't sleep without blankets!"

"Believe me, you can, Morgan. Your mother proved that to just about everyone!" Lissa laughed, ruffling the young Owain's hair before he went to have a play fight with Lucina. "She was right about… Here! Just lying in the grass!" Despite being a mother, Lissa couldn't help but act like a child as she bounded forward into a small patch of the field which was covered with daisies.

The boy looked up at his father for some sort of confirmation, and when he got a nod, he could only laugh and run to the same place that Lissa was stood. "So… If I did this, do I look like mother?!" Making sure that he had Robin's coat on, Morgan then lay down in the grass, closed his eyes, and made a loud snoring sound.

"Oh no, that's not like your mother! She'd be asleep dreaming about bandits, wolves, and bandits riding wolves!" Lissa was having fun remembering events which had happened in the past, and being able to laugh about it was a great relief from the stress which Owain caused her at times. "That or killing Chrom… But that's a story for another time."

Just seeing his son laughing and doing what he could to be like his mother whilst she was absent made Frederick want to laugh along, but at the same time… He didn't find it amusing in the slightest. His pain made the humour of the situation lose most meaning. He wished for that not to be the case, but unfortunately, it was.

"Mother..." He looked over at his son when he heard the small mumble, and could see a few tears streaming down his face. "I want my mother..." And then he sat up and began to cry even more. "L- Lucina, a- and Cynthia, and Owain, and all- all of my friends h- h- have their mothers, s- so why can't I have mine?!" When Morgan then began to rip up pieces of grass and throw them out of frustration, Frederick had to rush over to him and take hold of his arms to get him to stop.

"Don't do that, Morg-"

"B- But you don't get it father! I don't have a mother but everyone else does!"

Morgan was held close to his father in a hug then, as he tried to whisper some reassuring words down his ear. "Not everyone, Morgan… I understand how you feel, not having a mother – I lost mine when I was about your age. But… There's a chance that your mother can come back. We just have to be patient."

By that point, Owain and Lucina had come over to Morgan to see what was going on, and were kneeling down on the ground as they looked at him. "You know, I almost never get to see my mother! Cynthia is always with her, so I'm always having to play with my father! But I find it fun!"

"Yeah!" Owain had now joined in the conversation. "The legendary hero Owain almost never sees his father. He's always looking around for candy to eat… The only way I can see my father is if mother makes him stay or if I hide candy in my room! And that's silly!" The two were trying to reassure Morgan, and thankfully, they had managed to make him calm down a bit. Frederick sighed in relief because of that, as he had noticed that he found Morgan's sudden mood changes harder to deal with than Robin's.

Slowly, the boy gave his father a small but apologetic look, before standing up and looking between his two friends and then towards a nearby tree. "Last one to the tree… Has to try and steal Owain's father's candy!"

The older Morgan finally decided to speak up then, and that was when he held out a hand to help Frederick up off the ground. "I'm quite the handful, aren't I? Hah… I wish I could remember being a child..." He then laughed, before poking Frederick's head. "Is that a grey hair that I can see?"

"No wonder my hair is turning grey prematurely… I have to deal with you and your younger self!"

"H- Hey, don't be mean, father!"